Tag Archives: China

Though it is true that there is lots of misinformation on the web, and that the quest for higher quality search results is very good one, that the most used search engine in the world may soon be in the business of defining what is “true” and what is not is of some concern.

Debt is addictive. Once one gets on the stuff it is nearly impossible to get off of. And like all hard drugs, sooner or later debt will extract its toll. It certainly did in 2008. But instead of getting sober and real after that fateful year the world went on a binge instead. Not a very healthy thing to do. There will be pain, likely quite a lot of pain when the debt stops “working.”

When will reality come calling? It already has in many parts of the globe. But even the instability we see now is likely only a precursor of what is on the way.

Oil is now just under $50 per barrel. The Saudis are flooding the oil market likely for both political and market share reasons while China’s demand for the black stuff slackens as their economy slows.

Oil sends a shudder through the world economy. Japan goes for broke (probably literally) with the Japanese citizenry on board. China fears being sucked into a debasement black hole. Europe clings. We watch.

You know how this goes. The economy slows down and the authorities just introduce some more “stimulus.”

Where does this “stimulus” come from? Who cares!

The stimulus duct tape is so thick around the world economy at this point, things have been “patched” over so many times, it’s hard to remember what the world economic engine is actually supposed to look like.

6 Years ago while watching a video of Ron Paul on Youtube and while reading a fairly sophisticated debate below the video on the nuances of Austrian economic theory I was hit with a bolt of lightning. Social media was about to revolutionize everything. I soon founded a tiny company which specializes in developing social media strategies.

But just 6 short years ago social media was still a fairly tough sell to businesses. It’s hard to imagine but just a few years ago Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Pintrest, Instagram, and the rest generally weren’t seen as important to almost anyone in the non-tech business world. There was some understanding of social media’s power, but most couldn’t see how vital it would become for pretty much everything. Just 6 years ago.

Fast forward to today and now everyone sees social media’s power including the enemies of information exchange. In the attached article The New York Times examines one such enemy, China’s social media commissar, Lu Wei, and he is not playing around.